Chapter 5 - The Snake in the Garden
Morning light flooded through the stained-glass windows of the Moretti breakfast nook, casting colorful geometric patterns across a table laden with fresh fruit, artisan pastries, and steaming coffee.
Willa and Josie were already giggling, happily feeding small pieces of brioche to a pair of golden retrievers outside on the manicured lawn, supervised by two of Adrian’s most trusted guards.
Camille sat across from Adrian, nursing a cup of black coffee. The silence between them was no longer hostile; it was cautious, like two wild animals testing the boundaries of a shared territory.
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of the dining room swung open.
A tall, impeccably tailored man in a charcoal suit strode into the room without knocking. His silver-streaked hair was combed back with military precision, and a cold, polite smile played across his thin lips.
"Adrian," the man said smoothly, before his eyes flicked toward Camille. "Ah. So the rumors whispered among the staff are true. You’ve brought stray cats into the fortress."
Adrian didn't stand up. He placed his coffee cup down on the saucer with a deliberate, chilling click. "Marco. You learned how to open doors without knocking? Or did you forget who owns this house?"
Marco Moretti—Adrian’s cousin and second-in-command of the syndicate's financial operations—smiled thinly. "Forgive me, cousin. But news travels fast when the head of the Moretti family starts harboring an unknown woman and two children in the master wing—especially a woman with a husband currently sitting in a holding cell downtown for assault."
Camille’s heart skipped a beat. She set her cup down, her eyes narrowing as she studied Marco. There was something slick and venomous about him, a coiled hostility hidden beneath expensive cologne and tailored wool.
"Travis is a non-issue," Adrian said flatly, his dark eyes fixed on Marco. "His lawyer will ensure he stays behind bars for a very long time. And if he somehow manages to post bail, my men will handle it."
"Will they?" Marco chuckled softly, walking over to the sideboard and pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Because word on the street is that Travis wasn't acting alone when he tracked her down to that supermarket. Someone leaked her new address to him, Adrian. Someone inside this very circle."
The dining room temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.
Camille looked from Marco to Adrian. The realization hit her like a physical blow. Travis hadn't found her by accident. After five years of hiding successfully, he had suddenly appeared in aisle four with terrifying precision.
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"What are you saying, Marco?" Adrian asked, his voice dangerously low.
Marco turned around, taking a slow sip of his coffee. "I'm saying, cousin, that keeping civilian women and children in the middle of a syndicate war is a liability. And if someone in our own inner circle is leaking information to outsiders just to destabilize your leadership... well, maybe it’s time the family council had a word about your new domestic arrangements."
